advice re: flight hours and bdcp acceptance

[agentamulek]

I would like to start off by apologizing for bringing up a topic that has probably been discussed numerous times. I know how frustrating it can be at times to flip through the posts and see the same "what are my chances" and "need advice" topics, but I have exhausted most of my other sources, so here I am. My issue is this: I have taken the astb twice under the new rule and my last score wasnt stellar. I dont recall the exact line scores, but I know my oar was a 58, and I believe my pilot rating was a 6 (down from 59 and 8 the first time I took it). From what I have seen, these scores are lightyears behind those of selected candidates. When I called the new recruiter down at the nrd, he told me to "get some flight hours and then retake the astb. Your score will jump at least 10 points in general after getting some flight hours under your belt." He also mentioned the fact that civilian flight hours are becoming a must for competitive packages. Is he dead on with this info? I am in a bit of a pickle here because I only have one more shot at the astb, and if my scores go down, my dream is over. Not to mention the fact I cant really afford flight training (my wife works and I teach martial arts for free in return for high instruction). So what should I do? The cheapest flight instructor I have found is about $40 per hour, which is about half of some other places in San Diego where I am. According to him, the FAA requires 40 hours of private instruction to test for a civilian pilots license, but he also says the national average is a bit higher, around 70 hours, due to the fact it takes more time to learn the necessary concepts. There are also apparently a few books I would need to buy. At that rate I would be looking at about $3000, which isnt really THAT bad considering what the potential reward is. However, that is only for 70 hours, and a lot of you guys that have been selected seem to have excellent gpas and sometimes hundreds of flight hours, so what should I do? I am currently sitting on a 3.1 gpa and my major is mathematics. Should I go for the flight hours and risk taking the test again? Is there a better way for me to get some hours under my belt? Bottom line, what can I do besides the obvious to make myself a more viable candidate? Im open to any and all advice here, I just want to put myself in the best position possible. Thanks for taking the time to read my novel, I really appreciate it.

SD

P.S. congrats to all you guys and girls that have been selected lately, and merry christmas

 

[Tom]

There are some books out there for aviation that definitely help. The nice thing about it is those that you can download the FAA ones. They are the Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and the Airplane Flying Handbook. It is downloaded in pdf format somewhere, just google it.

As for the instructor rate, it may be partial information. Does the instructor provide any airplane? My instructors charge 37.50, but that does not include the plane. The Seminole I just got done training in was 202 per hour.

This leads to another idea I have. In my opinion, a private pilot land (PPL) definitely helps, but the skills gained from flying don't really help the basic knowledge covered on the ASTB. The two FAA books I mentioned above help, but they are somewhat thick. If memorization is your piece of pie, then you will be fine. Otherwise, it may take a considerable amount of studying to retain the information. Instead of spending thousands on the PPL, I think two things may help. First, as some may know, one has to pass a FAA knowledge test before the PPL practical examination can be taken. A study guide that I used helped me greatly. It is called Gleim's Private Pilot FAA Knowledge Test. It briefly overviews topics and then present the multiple choice questions from the test. It provides a explaination of why the right answer is right and why the wrong answers are wrong. Second, you could try enrolling in a gound school. I have no idea on the cost, but you would learn everything needed for the ASTB.

I am no recruiter, so I have no say in how the PPL will help your whole package. I just feel that the aspects above will help your chances on the ASTB. If you want to pursue a PPL, you should also look into Part 141 schools. You will probably get more out of your money there as compared to Part 61 training.

 

[mkoch]

I have no formal flight training whatsoever. I have 2 hours of unloggable airtime on a Piper Cherokee. I did, however, play every single flight sim I could find since the 4th grade. Just being an aviation buff and spending time chatting with pilots I believe helped me alot on the ASTB, which i wound up with a 7/7/8 on, the 8 being FOFAR. In retrospect, I now know most of the questions which I got wrong, and I believe that a few hours in ground school would have been extremely beneficial. As far as competetive ranges, I think that the current scuttlebutt is that you should have 50+ on the OAR and 7+ on the AQR/PFAR/FOFAR.

Another thing which you may find interesting, I too am a math major, and I have myself a GPA of 3.0. That was the thing I was most worried about, but it just goes to show that the boards really do look at the whole person concept. If you have the money, I'm sure a bit of flight instruction can't hurt, but if you're trying to get your scores up, the ground school and a good book (see above for recommendations) will help you best. Good luck.

 

[agentamulek]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. So it seems to be the concensus that I need to broaden my study material at this point. Sounds like a good idea to me. From what my recruiter told me, I would need a mid to high 60s score to be competitive, so Im not sure if he is just telling me that to blow me off, or if he just doesnt like packages he submits to get rejected so he wants to be sure. Just for the record, he isnt an actual recruiter, he will be here a few months before he reports to nfo training. So he might not have all the current info down yet. Then again, he might know better than most since he went through the process himself. With regards to the flight training, that would mostly be to beef up my package. Not that I dont believe what he said about helping my scores, but I was thinking the same thing about that being an awful lot of money for a potential 10 point rise and nothing more. My biggest problem has been the mechanical comprehension section. Since I havent taken any physics since AP in high school, this next semester will be my first college course. Maybe that will help with the mechanical stuff. I seem to get around 20 out of 30 on the practice exams for that section, Ill go back over what type of problems I missed later tonight and let you guys know, but that has been the problem with my oar thus far. Ill start looking on amazon for those guides. Thanks a lot for the advice everyone, I really appreciate it. By the way, which of you guys are sna selects? Not that it matters as far as the advice goes, just curious from a statistical standpoint as usual. Thanks again.

SD

 

[agentamulek]

I just computed the line scores for that practice test and they were:
aqr:7
pfar:8
fofar:8
So maybe Ill be ok with that part, I just need to work on my mech comp...And by the way, I sent an email to the flight instructor asking about the plane, he has yet to respond but Ill let you all know as soon as he does. If the plane is additional, that would pretty much put an end to that plan!

 

[Tom]

http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14265

 

[agentamulek]

Thanks for the link Tom, theres a lot of great info there. As for joboy, congrats! Sounds like youre on your way to great things. Hopefully your finally select will come soon, but its only a matter of time so you can sit back, relax, and take a look at the rest of us who are trying to get to the place you already are. Nice work! Still no reply from the instructor, Im beginning to fear its because the answer isnt something I want to hear

 

[redmariner97]

Military Flight Aptitude Tests by Arco is the book I recommend because it is similar to the tests. I've seen many people do well on the ASTB by just studying this book. No need to get private flight time. That will just drain you financially. The absolute lowest price you could hope for would be $150. an hour and then you are learning stalls, procedures, and too busy in the plane during initial training to really do enough good to justify the cost. Try out flight simulator 2004 (~$30.00) to get the "feel" of the scenary if you must.

 

[agentamulek]

Actually I already have both arco books. They seem to be alright. I also have the guide from this site. And, I have the flight simulator as well! I seem to have problems with it because when I mess up the landing I just bounce off the ground and start to develop a destructive sense of invulnerability haha. Ill probably leave that part off the application

 

[Tom]

The gouges on AirWarriors helped me immensely for the ASTB. I made sure to look them over the night before I took the ASTB to keep it fresh in the old membraine. I always find it hard landing in flight sim because I lack the kinesthetic and vestibual feeling of the plane (you know, gravity and the inner ear). Flight sim does help though when going through instrument training by letting you do approachs.

 

[agentamulek]

Ive just been playing with the joystick and not paying attention to the instrumentation...maybe thats why I can land!

 

[agentamulek]

Yeah going to ERAU would have been nice but ucsd was the best I could do. My nerdy episodes are more math related. Sounds like you are pretty prepared for your career though. Although the practice is valuable, the best thing is probably that you care so much. Putting 100% into the things you do will get you further than anything else in life, at least I would say so. I bet some future intel officers study aerial overhead photos of their neighborhoods. Cryptos probably speak in tongues. I wonder what a future supply officer would do...:icon_tong

 

[zippy]

Edit:yea, my bad- sorry bout that.

 

[agentamulek]

Yeah I didnt see it as flaunting or bragging or anything like that.

 

[mkoch]

Yeah going to ERAU would have been nice but ucsd was the best I could do. My nerdy episodes are more math related. Sounds like you are pretty prepared for your career though. Although the practice is valuable, the best thing is probably that you care so much. Putting 100% into the things you do will get you further than anything else in life, at least I would say so. I bet some future intel officers study aerial overhead photos of their neighborhoods. Cryptos probably speak in tongues. I wonder what a future supply officer would do...:icon_tong

A future supply officer would get practice doing what the supply corps does best. He'd turn in his math homework to his history prof, and turn in his spanish term paper to the math prof. Then when they all complained, he'd argue that they didnt specify the parameters of the assignment clearly enough.

j/k all you supply folks ;-)